The Bet is Paid
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: A Samurai has to keep his word...that includes not welching on a bet.


**A/N: **Sorry for the severe lack of activity recently, things have been seriously hectic here. Not much, just a little one-shot to cover the outcome of a storyline I forgot about in my last fic. Hopefully I'll get back to more regular writing soon.

**Rating: **T – May be some adult themes.

**Legal: **I do not own the rights to Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.

It was morning at the Shiba House, and the Rangers had been up for a while. Mentor Ji had postponed training until later in the day, figuring that the Rangers had been through quite a bit in the last few days, especially Mike and Emily. The Yellow Ranger had almost died as a result of the latest Nighlock attack, while Mike had gone into the Netherworld and quite literally confronted the daemon that plagued their lives face to face. There were few in the Shiba House who weren't convinced they deserved it.

Mia was in the kitchen with Kevin, trying her hand at a cooked breakfast. Since she had some spare time on her hands, she figured she would take the opportunity to have a little more practice at cooking. Kevin was waiting eagerly as Mia started to spoon some scrambled eggs onto a plate full of bacon and sausages.

"You know this isn't exactly part of a recommended diet." He told her.

"Well I doubt one cooked breakfast every now and then is going to ruin your figure." She replied with a little snigger as she pushed the plate over to him. "Now, there's no black stuff on it, from what little I've learned, I figure that's a good thing."

"Well it smells pretty good." Kevin assured her, grabbing his fork. He took a little mouthful of bacon, and looked to his girlfriend, seeing the expectant look on her face. She was clearly waiting on his assessment.

"The bacon's nice and crispy." He began his assessment, taking some more. "The sausages are nicely cooked, the eggs are great...I'd give this...8/10."

"Only eight?" She asked him.

"Well I don't want you to stop trying." He told her, pulling her across closer to him. "It might mean the end of great breakfasts."

"Well I'll have to keep trying then won't I?" She asked as she kissed him softly. "Say Kevin, you're more up on the Samurai legends than I am."

"I guess so." He replied with a shrug. "I mean, my dad never put much truck in Cinderella or Snow White as bedtime stories."

"Wait, you never heard Cinderella?" She asked him. Kevin just shrugged.

"I may have caught some of the Disney version once." He answered. Mia just shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, I was looking through some stuff recently, and I came across a name I haven't heard before." She told him. "Have you heard of something or someone named Kasamune?"

"Kasamune?" He asked her. He thought about it and shook his head. "I've heard of Masamune, the ancient swordsmith..."

"No, it was definitely Kasamune." She replied. "I don't think Mentor Ji would have made a mistake like that."

"Mentor Ji?" He asked her. "What do you mean?" She realised her mistake in blurting that part out.

"Um...well...I kind of saw the name in some of his notes." She admitted. "It looked like he was translating that scroll you and Antonio got from Octoroo."

"And where exactly did you see these notes?" Kevin asked her with a little smirk. Mia just looked a little ashamed.

"In his study." She admitted. "I was looking for him and I saw some notes on the table."

"Well I'm sure if it was anything important, he would let us know about it." Kevin assured her. Just then, there was a commotion from outside. Before they knew what was going on, Emily ran in, hiding behind Mia. She felt warm, and Mia could see that she was blushing quite badly. Mike came in shortly afterwards.

"Mike, what's going on?" Mia asked him.

"What did you do?" Kevin asked. Mike just threw his hands up in frustration.

"Why exactly did you just presume it was something I did?" He asked. "There are two other Rangers you know."

"So this is nothing to do with you?" Mia asked. "Emily, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to say." She sniggered. Kevin looked across and saw that Mike seemed to be laughing too.

"Um...what's so funny?" Kevin asked. Just then, the door flew open. Mia's jaw almost hit the floor and Kevin almost fell out his chair as Jayden came running into the room and ran around completely naked. As he ran out of the room, Antonio came in, falling all over himself laughing.

"What the hell was that all about?" Kevin asked.

"Why do I get the feeling this has something to do with you?" Mia questioned Antonio judgementally. The Gold Ranger just shrugged.

"What can I say, to make the laundry a little more interesting, we decided to make a bet." Antonio admitted. "He lost."

"I'll never be able to look at Jayden the same way again." Mike laughed. "I guess now we know he's a natural blonde."

"Please don't." Emily murmured. "I think I may be scarred for life!"

"Well let's just hope he gets to his room to get changed before..."

"Jayden!" They heard Mentor Ji roar from another room. All the others just looked at each other uneasily.

"Why can I see that not being a good thing?" Mike asked. Mentor Ji came into the kitchen, finding all the other Rangers there. He looked somewhat less than amused, something evidenced as he cracked his cane down across the counter.

"All of you, get ready and get into the training yard!" He snapped.

"Mentor Ji..."

"Now!" He roared, cracking the cane down again. The Rangers all immediately scrambled for their rooms to get changed. They knew better than to question him when he was in a mood like this.

A little while later, the Rangers had all assembled in the training yard, finding Jayden already there, looking somewhat bashful as a result of the rather humiliating run-in with Mentor Ji. They had a feeling he would have had more than a few words to say to about the little streaking incident in the house.

"Well, it's good to see you a little more...formally dressed." Mia stated, causing a snigger from the others. Jayden was almost as red as his uniform as they laughed at his expense.

"Here's a little tip, never take Antonio on in a laundry race." He replied. "I can't believe I just did that."

"Hey, a Samurai's got to keep his word right?" Antonio asked with a shrug. "I can't help it if you agreed to the bet."

"I can't believe you're the first guy I've seen naked." Emily chastised him, slapping his shoulder. "You totally ruined that for me. I'm mentally scarred; oh my God...I think my eyes are burning!"

"Hey, it isn't like it was too bad a view." Antonio teased her. Just then, Mentor Ji came out of the house, still looking incredibly angry.

"Alright, today you'll all be doing punishment drills." He told them. "You'll be running laps until I tell you to stop."

As they were about to start, he just coughed.

"Jayden, I believe you are overdressed." He stated. Jayden just looked at him a little curiously.

"Mentor?" He asked.

"You seem to think it is appropriate behaviour to run around here naked." Mentor Ji replied. "Well?"

Jayden reluctantly stripped down to his underwear and started running. The others had to try hard not to laugh, but they stopped as Mentor Ji held up a hand.

"You are a team are you not?" He asked them. They all looked at each other curiously. "Your leader appears to have set the standard for acceptable dress."

"You're kidding right?" Kevin asked him. "But...we didn't do anything!"

"Perhaps you will think twice before you take amusement in such disgraceful behaviour." He replied. He just glared at them as they stood, uncertain as to what to do. "Do I look as if I'm joking?"

"Dude, you have so much to answer for." Mike grumbled as he stripped down to his boxers. Slowly but surely, the other Rangers all followed suit, until they were all standing in their underwear, all feeling more than a little exposed, and thankful that there was a high wall surrounding the training yard.

"You may begin." Mentor Ji told them. "Go!"

As they all started to run, Mentor Ji went back into the house. As he dialled his cell phone, he started to chuckle.

"Kanoi, you will not believe what I just made my Rangers do." He laughed to himself as he looked out the window to where the Rangers were running. "Sometimes this job is just too much fun."


End file.
